William Hague: David Cameron is the sanest person to lead the Conservative Party in a long time

"The Foreign Secretary describes himself as “one of the strongest supporters” of David Cameron and wants him to lead the Tories for “as long as possible.” However, he goes further when questioned about how the Prime Minister is facing up to the current political storm raging about him. “He is not the sort of person who gets ruffled or paranoid or panicked…we’ve all seen those things happen in political leaders, including party leaders, including prime ministers…and that doesn’t happen to him.” Mr Hague pauses, then adds: “He is the sanest person to lead the Conservative Party in a long time, me included!"" – Sunday Telegraph interview

"He will announce this week that he has eliminated a £38 billion hole in the defence budget, making it possible to… claim that for the first time in modern history his department will have an underspend as well as a substantial contingency fund. “In the next few days we will be in a position to make the grand announcement that I’ve balanced the books,” Hammond said.”" – Sunday Times (£)

Hammond comes out against spending time on gay marriage and Lords reform – full Sunday Times (£) interview

Members of the Armed Forces are suffering abuse and discrimination on Britain’s streets just for wearing their uniforms in public

"A survey of more than 9,100 servicemen discloses that almost one in five military personnel has been refused service in pubs, hotels and shops because they were in uniform. Six per cent have been attacked in the street, while 21 per cent have reported strangers coming up to them and shouting abuse." – Sunday Telegraph

"And 18 per cent had been refused service in places such as pubs or hotels in the past five years. Others had been spat at and more than one in 20 had faced violence. A female RAF officer said: “I have people running up and screaming ‘baby killer’ at me.”" – The Sun on Sunday

Simple ways we can all recognise their bravery – Lord Ashcroft for the Sunday Telegraph

Over-50s to get help to launch own businesses

"Chris Grayling, the employment minister, wants to "unleash a wave of new entrepreneurs" with enterprise allowances, which mirrors a scheme in the 1980s that helped the artist Tracey Emin, Creation Records boss Alan McGee and Julian Dunkerton, founder of the Superdry fashion label." – Independent on Sunday

"Their ideas, to be published tomorrow in a series of essays by the think tank Demos, present a 21st-century twist on Thatcherism. Echoing her traditional values, they want Cameron to revive the idea of tax breaks for married couples, but they also back less true-blue ideas such as flexible maternity and paternity leave and free nursery education." – Sunday Telegraph (£)

"As I recall, Mr Cameron did make brief allusions to such a notion – of spending cuts being an opportunity to get greater value for money – in a couple of early set-piece speeches. But then, characteristically, he left the idea undeveloped and undefended… Which is a shame: if ever there was an example of “common sense” combined with logical consistency, this is it. All it would take to carry the day is a willingness to make the argument." – Janet Daley for the Sunday Telegraph

Tory Minister is slapped down by Lib Dems after criticising gay marriage in letter to constituent

"Tim Loughton, Tory Minister for Children and Families, came under fire from Liberal Democrat partners after he said he was totally opposed to same-sex marriage and that the Prime Minister would do better to focus on getting Britain out of recession." - Mail on Sunday

Iain Martin: The Coalition is running out of steam, just two years in

"At the top of government there are those who tell MPs that the arrangement remains strong and that relations between the principal players in both party’s are still healthy. Further down the ministerial food-chain, there is plenty of Tory grumbling about the Lib Dems. There are also suggestions that the Chancellor is unhappy. Says a Tory MP: “After the problems with the budget, caused by Lib Dem briefing and the complexity of negotiations, George is much less a fan of coalition.”" – Iain Martin for the Sunday Telegraph

Matthew d'Ancona: Making cuts last until after 2015 will cause an anti-incumbency feeling

"The revision of the original fiscal timetable… means that, on polling day, the voters will still be feeling tired, impatient and financially overstretched, rather than better-off, optimistic and disinclined to kick out the main governing party. The 2015 election was always meant to be about the voters and their improved standard of living. Now, it will be about the politicians themselves and their fitness to continue with an incomplete austerity strategy. The next election, in other words, will be a contest of character." – Matthew d'Ancona for the Sunday Telegraph

"Conservatives are likely to try blame the knock-on effects of the crisis in the euro area for sluggish growth at home" – Observer

George Osborne may well push Cameron into a referendum pledge in 2015 – John Rentoul for the Independent on Sunday

"At the heart of the row is the Civil Service reform White Paper. This is meant to pave the way for a far smaller Whitehall machine and to make it easier to bring people in from the private sector. Kerslake… and fellow Permanent Secretaries produced their own plan… Those who have seen it describe it as a joke, the kind of thing you would expect from a second-rate human resources department, with ‘lots of verbiage about valuing our staff more’." – James Forsyth for the Mail on Sunday

Ed Miliband is just as much a part of the Westminster establishment as Cameron or Clegg

"He read PPE at Oxford, just like the prime minister. His first job was in television working on a programme – with me, as it happens – devoted to Westminster politics. His subsequent career has been almost entirely spent inside the club: first as an aide to Harriet Harman and Gordon Brown, then a quick route to a safe seat under their patronage, and swift elevation to the cabinet." – Andrew Rawnsley for the Observer

"Labour leader Johann Lamont yesterday accused Alex Salmond of floating a possible second question on further devolution as part of the independence referendum because he “fears” he won’t win the vote to leave the UK. Lamont, speaking at a Fabian Society conference, said the First Minister was striving to get a “consolation prize” and now appeared to be “fumbling for a reverse gear”." – Scotsman

"The female peers of the House of Lords have come to the fore in their influence on major coalition bills on health, welfare and legal aid. But is there a danger that the experience and wisdom they bring to the upper chamber could be lost in the rush to reform?" – Observer

"Mr Lansley says that although his diet is ‘not perfect’, his business consultant wife Sally… stops him from slipping into bad habits. ‘She’s pretty good. Last night it was rice and a lean lamb kebab, with mushrooms and one bottle of Budweiser. I’m pretty restrained with alcohol, as my advisers will tell you. The night before it was a steak pie, new potatoes and peas,’ he smiles, virtually licking his lips at the memory." – Mail on Sunday

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